Tuesday, 31 July 2012

Please list me as the Father of your Child

I am the named as the father of a child on his birth certificate, but I am not the biological father. This was my choice. I offered my name to his mother.

Let me tell you the story.

In 2004, I met a young woman who had a child of 3 months old. Really cute (as most babies are) but the mother did not have a name for him. HUH? When i questioned her she told me that the Ministry of Home Affairs would not register the child without the name of the father. Unfortunately she did not know who the father was. This meant she had no birth certificate, and worse could not get a clinic card for her son.

I went with her to the offices and offered to have them list me as the father. The GRN official told me that this was not possible unless i was the biological father or married to the woman.

Now those of you who know me - know I don't take no for an answer.

I walked next door to the marriage regitration office and booked a marrigae appointment with the woman for the next week. With this marriage appointment I returned to the Birth Registration office. The GRN official was more than happy to now register "my" son.

Five minutes later, I called off my "engagement" and cancelled the wedding appointment.